Truth of the Matter
by DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Summary: Susan Bones has a monumental task ahead of her.


**Hello all! I'm back at it with stories, and this is once again for the summer camp event going on at IWSC forum. I'm a member of cabin McKinnon, and this is week three of the event. The task is to write about Aurors on a case. I hope you enjoy it, and please leave reviews(I don't say that enough do I?)**

**Word Count: 1027**

Susan Bones stood just inside the entrance of the Ministry of Magic, ready for her final day of training. As soon as she completed the mission they would give her today, she would be a fully qualified Auror and able to do her part to keep the Wizarding World safe.

She hadn't always wanted to become an Auror. Until the fourth year, she'd wanted to be a Healer, or maybe a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. But that had changed at the end of that year. It was the year of the Triwizard Tournament, when at the end of the final task, Harry Potter had returned from the maze with Cedric Diggory's body. He had claimed what should have been impossible; that You-Know-Who had returned.

It had been verified by the Headmaster, Dumbledore, but over the summer, the Daily Prophet had been slowly trying to discredit them both. It had become a running joke, maybe once or twice a week, that the newspaper would bring up. Susan wanted to believe the news, because if You-Know-Who had returned, that meant that they were on the verge of another war. But her Aunt Amelia had cautioned her not to believe what the news was saying.

"Be sensible, Susie," she had said when Susan had come over one day. "Don't let ill-advised opinions influence your thoughts. He's back, as much as anyone at the Ministry may choose to deny it." Her aunt had been keeping her opinions to herself, in order to try and do some good from within, secretly of course. But now, the days of You-Know-Who's second return were gone for good, the Dark wizard was dead, and Susan had been forever changed by his reign of terror.. That was why she was standing before the Ministry, ready to complete her training.

Gathering her courage, she pushed through the thronging people on their way to their jobs. Allowing them to pull her along, she was eventually through the main hall and in the corridor with its many lifts. Taking a crowded one, she made her way up to the fifth floor, the Auror Headquarters.

Since Kingsley Shacklebolt was Minister of Magic now, the new head of the Auror Department had gone to his second in command, a firm but unyielding woman named Tyche Khan. Susan respected Tyche quite a lot, and the older witch had taught her everything she needed to know for this day.

Arriving outside Tyche's office, Susan only hesitated a moment before she knocked. From within, she heard, "Come in!"

Susan opened the door and entered. Tyche's office was quite simple, with all the usual accoutrements of an office. The only unusual thing was the map of Great Britain and Europe that covered one wall. It was speckled with glowing red dots, and on occasion, one or two would move to different places. These were the Tracer lights on tracked witches and wizards. Many of them corresponded to underage students, who were not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts or their respective schools, and others showed the locations of witches and wizards who had previously been imprisoned for war crimes but had had their sentences lessened after agreeing to be tracked.

"Good morning, Miss Bones," Tyche greeted. She was a woman of few words. "You're early, that's good."

"Couldn't just sit around and wait, ma'am," Susan responded. "Today's too important."

Tyche seemed to soften for a moment, but then returned to her normal composed manner. "Right, about your final test. We have a call that came in about an hour ago. Some Muggles saw a man they thought may be Corban Yaxley." After the end of the war, they had captured many of the Death Eaters, but some had escaped, including Yaxley. They had been put out to the Muggles, in case he decided to hide among them.

He was extremely dangerous, Susan knew. He had also been there the night her Aunt Amelia had been killed. He and You-Know-Who had come on a weekend when she'd been visiting her aunt. Amelia had hidden her niece in her root cellar, and the fight that had ensued was over before it really began. Her aunt had done her best, but she was up against the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time.

"Yaxley, ma'am?" Susan asked, to make sure she had heard correctly. She was a fairly powerful witch, of course, but Yaxley had been an extremely prominent Death Eater. He likely knew spells she couldn't replicate in a million years.

"He's probably not there anymore," Tyche reassured, seeing the alarm on Susan's face. "We just want you to go talk with the Muggles and find out exactly what they saw and find any clues about where he might be next. If you find any, we'll send someone else out to bring him in."

Susan nodded. "Where am I going, then, ma'am?"

Tyche looked at some papers on her desk. "The call came from a husband and wife living in Seoney. 183 Birch Lane."

Susan turned the address over in her mind, so she would be able to Apparate there properly. "Is that all?"

Tyche did a final scan of her papers, then shook her head. "No, Miss Bones. Just be careful. If he is there, don't engage him on your own. We don't want any casualties."

Susan gave another short nod, and turned to leave. All the way down to the Atrium, where she would be able to Apparate, she turned this mission in her mind. She would be ble to catch the man who had aided in the murder of her beloved aunt. Others like him had murdered her Uncle Edgar, Aunt Genevieve, and her cousins when she was just a baby.

People who thought just like Corban Yaxley had ruined her family and left her and her parents as the only survivors. She would find out what these Muggles knew, and if they could lead her to Yaxley. If she could find him and bring him to justice, it would only be one small bit of repayment for all that these people had done to her, her family, and the entire Wizarding World.


End file.
